13 by 9-Inch Baking Pans/Dishes

Published January 2014

Update: February 2015

Our winning metal baking pan, Williams Sonoma's Goldtouch Nonstick Rectangular Cake Pan, 9" x 13", lists its maximum oven-safe temperature at 450 F; however, the company tells us that this pan is actually oven-safe at even higher baking temperatures, but should never be used for broiling. Our winning broiler-safe 13 by 9-inch baking dish, by HIC Porcelain is the best choice for recipes that call for the broiler.

How we tested

We can’t think of a piece of cookware
that’s more basic than the
13 by 9-inch metal baking pan,
but we also can’t think of one
that’s more essential. It’s the vessel that we pull
out for everything from sheet cakes and sticky
buns to cornbread and bar cookies (though it
can’t do everything, so we use glass and ceramic
baking dishes, too; see “Completing the Trio” below).
At first glance it might seem as though any one of
the generic-looking metal boxes on store shelves
would do just fine. But you’d be surprised:
Choose the wrong one and your brownies will
be overbaked and dry at the edges, and the sticky
part of your sticky buns will stick to the pan, not
the buns.

Out of the gate we knew that we would only
consider pans with sharp, 90-degree (rather than
sloped or curved) corners. These are actually harder
to find—manufacturers more often opt to make
pans with rounded edges since it’s a cheaper process.
But decades of experience have taught us that pans
with straight sides not only produce bars with well-defined,
professional-looking edges but also, and
more important, ensure that batter sits level and thus
bakes evenly. Consider a batch of brownies baked
in a pan with rounded corners (we’ve all had them):
Their thin, overbaked edges and domed, underbaked
middle happen because the batter can’t pool as deep
at the shallower curved edges of the pan.

But sharp corners alone don’t guarantee perfect
results, as we discovered when we set out to find
our ideal 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan. We were
looking for a sturdy, durable pan that would easily
release food and yield baked goods with crisp,
tidy corners; uniform color; and a tender crumb
from edge to center. In fact, in the eight pans we
tested (priced from $9.99 to $32.95), batches of
cornbread, brownies, and sticky buns baked up in
remarkably different ways. So what exactly makes a
pan worth seeking out—or avoiding?

If the pan’s surface is too dark in color, it can be problematic. One pan's dark surface browned cornbread nicely,
but when it came to brownies, the surface conducted
heat just a little too well, and the resulting brownies
had tough, cracked edges by the end of the baking
time. Sticky buns fared even worse: The buns overbrowned
and ended up glued together by the rock-hard,
nearly burnt glaze. Pans with lighter surface
colors didn’t have such extreme problems—none
that we tested had issues with undercooking—but
a surface that is too light may not deliver browning
when you want it. Light, shiny silver vessels produced
decently tanned cornbread, but the loaf turned out
by our front-runner, a pan whose color falls somewhere
in between dark and light, was so gorgeously
bronzed that it garnered oohs and aahs in the
test kitchen.

A nonstick coating isn’t always required—we line
pans with a foil sling when making brownies and
bars, guaranteeing easy removal—but it is essential
for any recipe for which you might need to invert
the pan to release the food once baked, such as an
upside-down cake or sticky buns. We found that
sticky buns baked in pans without nonstick coatings
either had to be chiseled out one by one or, if they
did release from the pan, left behind nearly all their
glaze. Meanwhile, most pans with nonstick coatings
easily released the caramel glaze, including our favorite
pan up to this point, which left not a trace behind.

The sticky bun test also highlighted a different
issue with two pans boasting innovative features
that we initially held high hopes for. One was a pan with a removable
bottom. We thought that this pan would make
recipes like sticky buns easier to manage. Not so.
Instead, it leaked the buns’ sugary glaze, filling
the kitchen with smoke and leaving the buns bare;
it also allowed cornbread batter to ooze out. We
experienced the same leakage problems with another product, a metal frame used
by bakeries that sits in a 13 by 9-inch sheet pan to
create an instant baking dish.

Cleaning and durability are also important
considerations.
Nonstick pans that released food
readily were also simpler to clean. While we knew
that cutting with a metal utensil is generally a bad
idea in these pans, it’s something we all admittedly
do at one time or another. So we cut and served
cobblers with metal utensils, and we dragged a knife
across the surface as if we were cutting brownies, slicing
a grid shape into each empty pan 12 times. Every
pan became scratched, the worst being a model whose dark
finish chipped off in spots. Aluminum is a comparatively
soft material for cookware and bakeware, so
we weren’t surprised that uncoated aluminum pans
didn’t fare all that well, becoming deeply grooved.
Our front-runner did well in this test, with scratches
that felt slightly shallower than the rest and a finish
that showed no signs of chipping. But the corrugated
surface of a nonstick-coated cake
pan fared best in our durability tests: Its textured
surface disguised scratches and also prevented the
knife from penetrating as deeply.

In the end, we had a clear winner. Our winning pan gave us moist, evenly baked brownies that required
no trimming for crisp, uniform edges; perfectly tender
and browned gooey sticky buns with no mess
left behind to clean up; and cornbread with star
quality. Plus, its reasonably durable finish released
baked goods beautifully. It was the most
expensive pan in our testing, but the outstanding
results it produced make it worthwhile.

COMPLETING THE TRIO

While a metal baking pan is ideal for making bar cookies, cornbread, sheet cakes, and sticky buns, glass and ceramic dishes are a must for certain jobs.

GLASS

Why You Need It: Tempered glass won’t react with acidic foods such as tomatoes and is safe for use with metal utensils. Its transparency lets you track browning, and the rounded corners make it easy to scoop out soupy desserts and casseroles.

OUR FAVORITE: Pyrex Bakeware 9 x 13 Baking Dish

CERAMIC

Why You Need It: Unlike glass and metal pans with nonstick coatings, some ceramic baking dishes are broiler-safe, making this material the only option for dishes that cook entirely or finish browning under the broiler’s intense heat.

OUR FAVORITE: HIC Porcelain Lasagna Baking Dish

Methodology

We tested eight metal baking pans measuring 13 by 9 inches, baking our chewy brownies, sticky buns with pecans, and cornbread in them and assessing the pans on
their performance, design, cleanup, and ability to withstand scratches.

DISHWASHER-SAFE

This is the manufacturer’s washing recommendation.

PERFORMANCE

We baked brownies, sticky buns, and cornbread in each pan, observing the degree of browning, evenness of cooking from edge to center, and release from the pan. Scores of good, fair, and poor were assigned to each test, and the aggregate score determined the overall rating.

DESIGN

We gave high marks to pans that were easier to move in and out of the oven and flip while still warm and full of food.

CLEANUP

Pans received higher marks if we found it easy to remove baked-on food.

SCRATCHING

As an abuse test, we served cobbler with a metal utensil and used a paring knife to cut each pan as if we were slicing brownies, repeating each stroke 12 times. Pans were downgraded for deep grooves and damage.

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The Results

Winner

Recommended

Design Trifecta 360 Knife Block

Admittedly expensive, this handsome block certainly seemed to live up to its billing as “the last knife block you ever have to buy.” The heaviest model in our testing, this block was ultrastable, and its durable bamboo exterior was a breeze to clean. Well-placed medium-strength magnets made it easy to attach all our knives, and a rotating base gave us quick access to them. One tiny quibble: The blade of our 12-inch slicing knife stuck out a little.

$248.64*

Buy Now

Recommended

Schmidt Brothers Downtown Block

This roomy block completely sheathed our entire winning knife set using just one of its two sides—and quite securely, thanks to long, medium-strength magnet bars. Heavy, with a grippy base, this block was very stable. An acrylic guard made this model extra-safe but also made it a little trickier to insert knives and to clean; the wood block itself showed some minor cosmetic scratching during use.

$141.90*

Buy Now

Schmidt Brothers Midtown Block

This smaller version of the Downtown Block secured all our knives nicely, though the blade of the slicing knife stuck out a bit. With a base lined with grippy material, this block was very stable. An acrylic guard afforded extra protection against contact with blades but made it a little harder to insert knives and to clean; the wood itself got a little scratched during use.

$67.99*

Buy Now

Recommended with Reservations

Swissmar Bamboo Magnetic Knife Block

This small, scratch-resistant model had a stable, rubber-lined base and could hold all our knives, though the blade of the 12-inch slicing knife stuck out a bit. But inch-long gaps between its small magnets made coverage uneven and forced us to find the magnetic hot spots in order to secure the knives. Its acrylic guard made it safer to use but harder to insert knives and to clean.

$49.93*

Not Recommended

Messermeister Walnut Magnet Block

This handsome block was done in by its shape—a tippy, top-heavy quarter-circle that wasn’t tall or broad enough to keep the blades of three knives from poking out. It lacked a nonslip base, and its extra-strong magnets made it unnerving to attach or remove our heavy cleaver. Finally, it got a bit scratched after extensive use.

$129.95*

Epicurean Standing Knife Rack 12"

This magnetic block sheathed all our knives completely, though with a bit of crowding. But it was hard to insert each knife without hitting the block’s decorative slats on way down, and because the block was light and narrow, it wobbled when bumped. Worse, we couldn’t take it apart, so splatters that hit the interior were there to stay. Additionally, the outside stained easily, and when we wiped it down, the unit smelled like wet dog.

$99.95*

Kapoosh Rondelle Knife Block

This model stabilized knives with a mass of stiff, spaghetti-like bristles that shed and nicked easily after extensive use, covering our knives with plastic debris. While all our knives fit securely, several of the blades stuck out, making this unit feel less safe overall. Finally, though the bristles could be removed and cleaned in the dishwasher, their nooks and crannies made this block hard to wash by hand.

$24.99*

Kuhn Rikon Vision Knife Block, Clear

This plastic block required us to aim each knife into the folds of an accordion-pleated insert that was removable for easy cleaning but got nicked easily with repeated use. Because we could only insert the knives vertically, longer knife blades stuck out; a cleaver was too wide to fit. The lightest model in our lineup, this block was dangerously top-heavy when loaded with knives.

$35.88*

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